Therese Anne Fowler is the author of the New York Times bestsellingZ: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Fowler felt compelled to write a story that should bring a maligned, talented, and troubled woman the justice she deserves, instead of her reputation as “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s crazy, disruptive wife.”

Therese’s work has been translated into more than twenty foreign languages and is published around the world. Z is now available as an original dramatic series for Amazon Studios starring Christina Ricci, with Killer Films producing. (Amazon has elected not to continue with its order for a second season.)

Therese discovered an affinity for badass women from history whose stories have been either mistold or are largely untold. Her next novel centers on Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, a determined, opinionated, compassionate, often amusing woman from America’s Gilded Age: A Well-Behaved Woman, a kind of homage to Edith Wharton with a dash of affection for Jane Austen for good measure, published by St. Martin’s Press. A Well-Behaved Woman is in development with Sony Pictures Television.

An avowed tomboy all her life, Fowler became one of the first girls in the U.S. to play Little League baseball, thanks to the implementation of Title IX legislation and her father’s willingness to fight on her behalf. But this passion for baseball was exceeded only by her love of books. After an intensive five-year stint that included one completed novel, followed by graduate school, a few short-fiction awards, an MFA in creative writing, teaching undergraduates creative writing, and a second novel, Fowler was on the path to a writing career.

Therese Anne Fowler has been a visiting professor at North Carolina State University and occasionally teaches fiction writing at conferences and workshops. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and PEN America, she is married to award-winning professor and author John Kessel. They reside in North Carolina. You can follow Therese on Facebook.

With a nod to Jane Austen and Edith Wharton, in A Well-Behaved Woman Therese Anne Fowler paints a glittering world of enormous wealth contrasted against desperate poverty, of social ambition and social scorn, of friendship and betrayal, and an unforgettable story of a remarkable woman. Meet Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont, living proof that history is made by those who know the rules—and how to break them.

Who is Zelda, other than the wife of a famous—sometimes infamous—husband? How can she forge her own identity while fighting her demons and Scott’s, too? With brilliant insight and imagination, Therese Anne Fowler brings us Zelda’s irresistible story as she herself might have told it.

Relating to Zelda in the 21st Century: The recent turn towards traditionalist conservatism by many Americans gives young women more things in common with Zelda than one would have imagine in the past. Women continue to be underestimated and overshadowed in both the personal and professional spheres, and they struggle with balancing devotion to a partner’s ambitions and the pursuit of their own. Discovering Zelda Fitzgerald: Fowler talks about lesser known facets of Zelda’s life, for instance, her relationship with ballet, a form of expression integral to helping her cope with her marital difficulties and mental illness.

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